In motor vehicles with rack and pinion steering gears, it is desirable to minimize transmission of road induced torsional vibrations through the steering gear to the steering wheel gripped by the driver of the vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,304, issued Oct. 5, 1982 and assigned to the assignee of this invention, describes a manual rack and pinion steering gear for motor vehicles having viscous torsional damping by fluid sheared between a plurality of concentric cylindrical walls connected alternately to a pinion or input shaft of the steering gear and to a housing of the steering gear. U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,329 describes a manual rack and pinion steering gear for motor vehicles having torsional damping by friction induced between a pair annular discs connected, respectively, to a pinion or input shaft of the steering gear and to a housing of the steering gear. A rack and pinion steering gear according to this invention incorporates novel structure for effecting torsional damping by friction.